year end soup
openings, things i’m doing, things i’ve done, thoughts on biking
to listen to this newsletter:
i’m in my room, it’s been dark for a very long time already, and i remembered i can actually light candles whenever i feel like it, for no reason, or even for a very specific reason. the impending winter miraculously doesn’t scare me, i soften towards it’s greeting. when you finally feel, after many months, that alone time is no longer restricted to the experience of getting swallowed by grief, but is actually a permission to feel excited to be alive and intertwined with all that we are, then the beckon of the cocoon feels like an old home, becoming inhabited again.
i ride my bike everyday in the cold— getting off on the sharp contrast between the bite of the air and my literally steaming body, wow. what a way to see how diligently my vessel is working to stay alive in the undeniably defiant warmth and vibration of it all. it’s a very animal experience to be eliciting tears purely due to atmosphere and temperature while you fly through space on a relatively new invention in the regards to the span of human life. i’m talking to myself rather loudly out loud on my bike again, it’s a good sign, full conversations with me and me. the spectrum of emotional states one can experience in a day continues to perplex me — heavy doom in regards to trying to do anything at all to, hours later, finding myself bursting euphoric tears, laughing at who knows what, ready to love, loving already, inspired by the trash and the sky alike, this is all still generally on my bike. i didn’t think i would talk about my bike so much, thought i would talk about the places i went this fall, but this is also so very much the places i went, and perhaps the places that i more often am.
berlin tattoo openings
i’m in berlin, for a little while at least, and itching to poke some more. here through the holidays and likely through end of jan, books very open :) here are some tattoos i did while in new york!
i’m shifting out of an hourly rate, as it seems to stress both parties out. my minimum is now 150€ and i’d like to start working from what your budget is and take it from there. i’m very open to trades and partial trades, it’s my favorite currency (as long as some folks pay so that i can pay my bills)!
and a fresh practice…
i’m dancing a lot more these days and finding ways for my dance and tattoo practices to come into conversation more directly. i’m slowly starting this experiment where i invite sound and movement into the earlier stages of drawing, and then sometimes into tattooing. for example: i have a very adorable voicemail from my grandfather, one of the last ones he sent me before he passed. i spent some time in my studio playing the voicemail on repeat and moving, dancing, letting the words carry me somewhere. upon it finishing, i would immediately make some marks on paper. not so much about trying to “draw” the words or the cadences but more so listening to the imprint that the words left on my body and then transferring THAT to paper. audio to body to paper to skin (back to the body). so here’s my little memento for my grandfather, who line danced 4 times a week at his senior center up until the end of his life.
gosh i’d love to work in this way so so much more. let me know if you have a piece of audio—words, music, sound—that you’d be keen to transmute into a tattoo, first through the body. would be an honor to play in this realm!
bodywork openings
massage and craniosacral sessions are available in kreuzberg for the winter :) it’s soooo important to keep the fluids movin’ as we dip into a more sedentary season and bodywork is a wonderful way to support that. pricing for sessions will change a bit in the new year, so this will be the last month of fully donation based sessions (again, gotta pay the bills).
i also can do gift cards for the holidays! to be honest, i really loathe this season and the stress of arbitrary gift giving. but i really do think that the gift of bodywork is one of the more beautiful things you can give a loved one.
bookings and inquiries can go through the email hs@bodytopography.online <3
performing a few times this week
feels very right to be back on stage these days and there are a few opportunities to see that this week:
the untalented show at 90mil - 11.12 8pm
i was a contestant for the fall edition and somehow won the whole show, and now you may or may not see him return for a brief moment… come find out for yourself
90mil is at an der michaelbrücke 1 | 5€ membership for new members + 15€-20€ no one turned away for lack of funds
everything’s beautiful (and so is your dad) - 12.12 8pm at expedition metropolis
i joined an experimental theater group called NOTIZEN, with a handful of theater makers and clowns i really admire. the idea was that each of us bring to the group an old idea that’s been buried in our notes for some time and try it out. best if you are executing a role you’ve maybe never done before, like me. i wrote and directed (for the first(ish) time) a very strange dark scene that i’m quite curious to get some feedback on. i’m also acting in a few other pieces for the first time in a while. there’s some good weird shit that’s having it’s inaugural attempt on the stage and we’d love to have ya.
expedition metropolis: ohlauer straße 41 | 10€-15€, (message me if that’s a barrier for you!)
casino’s 1st birthday party :’)
i was asked to perform as an egg, but sadly i had to back out because this week is too full and i frankly don’t have the time to make a good egg impression. but i’ll be working the front desk in the latter part of the night, come say hi. a plethora of performances and activities throughout the day into the wee hours! come celebrate this supremely beautiful community that has erupted seemingly overnight (actually over a year, right).
casino for social medicine - sonnenallee 100
queer ci jam - december 14th
i’m co-hosting the queer ci jam with anya cloud on december 14th, and it’s the last one of the year! anya will be teaching, i’ll be there to help hold the container and dance with you. see you there? it’s always the sweetest thing.
5pm-8pm, tanzfabrik
sliding scale 5€-10€ bipoc folks, 10€-20€ white folks, cash only
i went to new york
and it revived me all the way. many special moments occurred but one of the most affirming was jumping back on stage with my dear collaborator jonathan matthews-guzmán. we’ve had a performance duo (breaktime) since 2017, historically a place for us to bring all our worst ideas, and naturally needed to pause for some time when i left new york. this was our first show in three years, we made the piece in four rehearsals, and to be honest never rehearsed the piece in full before the actual show (classic). the house was over sold, standing room only, and it was really as if we had never left the stage. so wild how the body remembers how to play with another person after so much time and life has happened. here are a few bizarre video stills from our new work in progress, “guy upstairs”:
thanks jo warren, paris cullen, and sarah zucchero for joining us and sharing your work, i love you very deeply and am huge fans of each of you <3
j and i want to do some residencies in the next year or two to continue working on this baby. any ideas of places that might like us? US or europe! or wherever, i suppose…
west coast tease
i’ll likely be on the west coast end of jan to mid feb, to see family/friends and to do some tattooing. bay area, la and portland?? stay tuned ;)
other ways to be in touch
i started a telegram group for berlin things, if you want more frequent, real time updates. there i share teaching, performing, and tattoo and bodywork openings. it’s also likely where i’ll share discounted last minute openings for sessions. join me there, if you’d like. the handle is @hollysassberlin
more to say but substack says i can’t add anymore words. will do a part II with some drawings and whatever else didn’t fit. thanks for reading as always, will write again when the light begins to get longer. see you somewhere (or not)!
love,
holly